Those involved in resistive training, exercise and rehabilitation have long appreciated the benefits of resistive cords and bands. Not only are such appliances inexpensive, but they occupy little space and can be used for an almost limitless array of resistive movements. In addition, resistive cords and bands are available in varying resistances which are often color coded to enable a user to progress from one resistance to the next depending upon the muscle group being challenged and the progress one makes as the benefits of repetitive exercise are realized.
In addition to the above, those involved in physical therapy suggest the use of resistive cords and bands as they have little or no impact on the user's joints thus minimizing the pain that a patient might feel when using them. Those who are obese and the elderly can particularly benefit from their use.
In addition, those who have experienced tendon damage and have undergone surgical procedures can experience atrophy and limited range of joint motion requiring a slow but methodical rehabilitation regiment usually under the care of a skilled physical therapist. Stretchable cords and bands and even ropes and cloth strips are ideally suited for such rehabilitation as their resistance and implementation can be tailored to a specific joint and muscle group requiring rehabilitative therapy.
Whenever stretchable bands and cords and even non-flexible rope or cloth are employed, they must be gripped or otherwise attached to the appendage of a user. The use of stirrups and handles are most common noting that one end of cord, band or rope can be attached to a fixed abutment such as a hook or door handle while the other grasped in order to carry out the exercise movement.
Traditionally, handles are fixed to specific bands or cords such that as the user decides to change resistance, a new cord having its own handle must be used. This results in needless costs as, generally, the handles appended to various resistive cords or bands are identical to one another. Significant savings would be appreciated if a handle or stirrup could be changed from one band to the next as needed.
In addition to the above, it has been recognized that, depending upon the exercise motion being employed, the orientation of the handle or stirrup with respect to the longitunal axis of the cord or band ideally should vary order to achieve maximum exercise or rehabilitative benefit. As virtually no handles or stirrups enable the user to change their orientation with respect to the resistive cord or band to which they are attached, the use of such products are compromised thus reducing the maximum benefit one might otherwise achieve.
Thus an object of the present invention is to provide a universal handle device which is capable of changing its orientation with respect to the cord, band, rope, or cloth to which it is appended simply and conveniently thus maximizing the exercise and rehabilitative potential inherent in such devices.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a device in which a cord, band, rope or cloth can be selectively detached from its handle to free the handle to be attached to other such cords, bands, ropes or cloth.
These and further object be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.